“Consumers continue to spend more time on social networks than on any other category of sites—roughly 20 percent of their total time online via personal computer (PC), and 30 percent of total time online via mobile.”

Facebook remains the most-visited social network in the U.S. via PC (152.2 million visitors), mobile apps (78.4 million users) and mobile web (74.3 million visitors), and is multiple times the size of the next largest social site across each platform. TV is becoming a more instant and shared experience, and attitudes toward advertising on social media are “still evolving.” Nielsen says one-third of users find ads on social networking sites more annoying than other types of advertising. And word-of-mouth is now global, empowering consumers. See the highlights of the 2012 Nielsen Social Media Report.

Joanne Ostrow has been watching TV since before "reality" required quotation marks. "Hill Street Blues" was life-changing. If Dickens, Twain or Agatha Christie were alive today, they'd be writing for television. And proud of it.